Publications

Drug targeting is a methodology that helps to overcome the side effects of therapeutic molecules. However, insufficient targeting specificity and the on-target/off-site delivery leave much room for improvement in the targeting endeavors. One approach to enhance the specificity of drug targeting is to engineer artificial receptors with recognition ligands not observed in nature. To this end, artificial internalizing receptors that feature cholesterylamine as the artificial pull-in mechanism, and…

Large-scale and continuous conformational changes in the RNA self-folding process present significant challenges for structural studies, often requiring trade-offs between resolution and observational scope. Here, we utilize individual-particle cryo-electron tomography (IPET) to examine the post-transcriptional self-folding process of designed RNA origami 6-helix bundle with a clasp helix (6HBC). By avoiding selection, classification, averaging, or chemical fixation and optimizing cryo-ET data…

Integration of living cells with extrinsic functional entities gives rise to bioaugmented nanobiohybrids, which hold tremendous potential across diverse fields such as cell therapy, biocatalysis, and cell robotics. This study presents a biocompatible method for incorporating multilayered functional liposomes onto the cell surface, creating extracellular artificial organelles or exorganelles. The introduction of various extrinsic functionalities to cells is achieved without comprising their…

α-Synuclein (α-syn) accumulates as insoluble amyloid but also forms soluble α-syn oligomers (αSOs), thought to be even more cytotoxic than fibrils. To detect and block the unwanted activities of these αSOs, we have raised 30 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against different forms of αSOs, ranging from unmodified αSOs to species stabilized by lipid peroxidation products and polyphenols, αSOs formed by C-terminally truncated α-syn, and multivalent display of α-syn on capsid virus-like particles…

Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in steatotic cells pose a problem due to their potential to cause oxidative stress and cellular damage. Delivering engineered phospholipids to intracellular lipid droplets in steatotic hepatic cells, using the cell's inherent intracellular lipid transport mechanisms are investigated. Initially, it is shown that tail-labeled fluorescent lipids assembled into liposomes are able to be transported to intracellular lipid droplets in steatotic HepG2 cells…